The present invention relates to a separator for separating air and possibly present solids from a mixture of dental waste water, comprising an air-water separator, wherein a mixture supply tube opens into a centrifuge drum, an air discharge duct extends from a centrifuge drum to the mixture supply tube, and the centrifuge drum has an upper draining edge over which a water outlet is guided onto the outside of the centrifuge drum. There can be provided a solids separator, which is arranged one inside the other with the air-water separator and can include at least one solids blocking flange on the centrifuge drum shell surface.
Such separators, by means of which the waste water mixtures obtained at dental work stations, which beside water and air frequently also contain solids such as amalgam, ceramics, etc., can be split up into their constituents and be disposed of separately, are known in a variety of configurations. Such separators frequently are integrated in the base cabinet of a spittoon cup of the dental work station or in some other built-in furniture, so that a compact construction is required, wherein in particular the axial length of the separators is important, in order to be able to work also with little slope available or with a limited installation height. Therefore, it recently has been proposed to arrange the air/water separator and the solids separator lying coaxially one inside the other, i.e. to nest the same radially inside each other so to speak, whereby the necessary construction size can be reduced considerably. DE 39 16 742 and DE 39 43 819 for example show such arrangements nested inside each other.
Here, it is advantageous to introduce a mixture supply tube into the centrifuge drum from above and subject the emerging waste water mixture in the centrifuge drum to a sufficient radial acceleration, so that the liquid and solid constituents of the waste water mixture run onto the centrifuge drum shell surface, whereas the air from the waste water mixture can be discharged from the centrifuge drum in upward direction opposite to the mixture supply tube. While the solids are retained by a corresponding solids blocking flange at the inner shell surface of the centrifuge drum, the water or the liquid from the waste water mixture can escape over this solids blocking flange via the upper surface of the centrifuge drum. There, it usually is removed with a water delivery pump, wherein it is known to arrange an impeller with a blade rim at the upper edge of the centrifuge drum.
However, such separators with nested construction frequently are difficult to clean or difficult to demount and mount again. In addition, considerable loads of the centrifuge drum are obtained in part, which involve a tendency to tumbling, which must be overcome with in part expensive bearing measures.